Place · sea

The Solent

The Solent is the strait between the Isle of Wight and the mainland of southern England, a sheltered waterway leading to the harbours of Southampton and Portsmouth. In the early Anglo-Saxon period its coasts were settled by Jutes and Saxons whose lands became part of the kingdom of Wessex. It has long been a major naval and commercial anchorage, guarded by fortifications from the Tudor period onwards.

The Solent
Image: Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). The Solent. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/the-solent
MLA
“The Solent.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/the-solent. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “The Solent.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/the-solent.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘The Solent’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/the-solent (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻